Việt Kiểm Tin
Claim: An article on September 15 from the conservative Heritage Foundation claimed that a co-founder of the Black Lives Matter movement and a pro-communist China group are partnering up. The claims in this article have gone viral, with more than 15,000 shares on Facebook.
Rating: This claim is FALSE. The article incorrectly equated two nonprofits with the same name and wrongly associated Alicia Garza, co-founder of BLM, with the nonprofit that has ties to the People’s Republic of China (PRC).
Claim: Many in the Vietnamese community have heard reports that the Trump campaign has taken hundreds of thousands of dollars from wealthy Chinese nationals with strong ties to the People’s Republic of China’s (PRC) government. These Chinese nationals gave money to Trump’s re-election campaign in order to potentially influence Trump’s policies.
Rating: This claim is HALF TRUE. Chinese-Americans did donate to Trump’s re-election campaign soon after Trump took office. This effort opened doors in Washington to these donors and their Chinese national associates to meet the President and top Republicans, at both fundraisers and GOP leadership meetings.
Claim: Many Vietnamese Americans say they are voting for Trump because they claim that he is anti-communist.
Rating: This claim is MOSTLY FALSE. While Trump commonly uses anti-socialist rhetoric, our review found that Trump has pushed for several socialist policies during his first term. In addition, his friendships with communist and authoritarian leaders like Vladimir Putin, Kim Jong-un, and Xi Jinping conflict with his anti-socialist messaging.
Claim: Many Vietnamese Americans believe that Biden supports China and that his presidency will inevitably lead to China’s domination over Vietnam.
Rating: This claim is MOSTLY FALSE. While Biden previously supported China’s economic progress, he has become critical of its political repression and recent aggression in disputed territories. Rather, experts believe that Biden’s presidency will follow a hardline approach with China similar to Trump’s.
Claim: Many Vietnamese Americans believe that Democrats are pro-China and have no plans to take on China.
Rating: This claim is FALSE. A review of the 2020 Democratic Party platform revealed that Democrats intend to counter China in multiple areas. Their platform mentioned China more than any other country. In comparison, the Republicans did not publish a platform for the 2020 election.
Claim: Many Vietnamese Americans believe Trump is anti-communist because he is a member of the Republican Party, which many Vietnamese Americans perceive as being anti-communist.
Rating: This is HALF TRUE. While the Republican Party has been very adamant in its rhetoric that it is the anti-communist party, it is not clear that the party’s foreign policies have been more anti-communist than the Democratic Party.